Conservative campaigning with man involved in the Air India terrorist

[Rick]

VANCOUVER—Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh has filed a complaint with Elections Canada after one of the men acquitted in the Air India bombings endorsed his Conservative rival.

Dosanjh said his campaign learned Friday about the April 6 meeting at B.C. Khalsa School in which teachers and parents were urged to support Conservative Wai Young.

Dosanjh, the incumbent in Vancouver South, said Young was at the meeting along with Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the Khalsa School founders.

Malik and another man, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were found not guilty in 2005 in the 1985 Air India bombing in which 331 people were killed in two explosions.

In a statement late Friday, Wai said she was invited to Khalsa School by the school's principal and not by Malik.

“Had I known he would be present or was involved with the school, I never would have attended,” said Wai. “No one involved with the school or Mr. Malik is involved in my campaign nor have I ever asked for his support. I strongly stand against terrorism.”

The Khalsa School is an independent school that receives funding from the B.C. government and is run by a charitable organization.

In addition to filing a complaint to Elections Canada and B.C.'s education ministry, the Dosanjh campaign has sent a letter to the Canada Revenue Agency. Dosanjh says the meeting could be considered campaigning during an election, which could violate the school's charitable status.

Dosanjh said it's irresponsible for any politician to be associated with Malik. “Ms. Young has some explaining to do. She couldn't have been blind or deaf to who Mr. Malik is,” said Dosanjh. “He's a well-known individual with admitted links to Air India.”Malik was back in the spotlight earlier this week after the Supreme Court of Canada granted the provincial government access to some of the former accused's documents.

Story here

[Wild Bill]

Story here

Here we have a political candidate busy as hell in the middle of a campaign. She has no time to check out her appointments - that's what her team is for!

She is invited to a meeting at a school and it comes out that some scumbag is also there.

Now, the odds are extremely long that she knew anything about the scumbag. Not being of that ethnic persuasion herself, his name was not likely to be an easy one for her to remember, even if she had followed his history closely.

Now folks are accusing her of consorting with a terrorist scumbag!

This is an obvious setup! It is pure partisan crap and not very good crap, at that! Who knows, perhaps at some time in the past, she and the scumbag may have shared the same bus! Or worse yet, gone to the same shopping mall!

Somebody is either very lowbrow with their tricks or else very desperate.

Edited April 23, 2011 by Wild Bill

[betsy]

Story here

Tory accused of campaigning with man acquitted in Air India case

Dosanjh, like Ignatieff, have a problem in understanding how our justice system works!

Edited April 23, 2011 by betsy

[betsy]

Tory accused of campaigning with man acquitted in Air India case

If Dosanjh doesn't agree with the court's decision, tough luck! He is in Canada....not some banana republic! Unless of course they want to turn Canada into one.

So he's campaigning with that guy, so what? That acquitted man has every right to attend any public functions....to endorse whom he wants!

Edited April 23, 2011 by betsy

[Handsome Rob]

Tory accused of campaigning with man acquitted in Air India case

Dosanjh, like Ignatieff, have a problem in understanding how our justice system works!

I'm guessing you're not a local, it's hard not to be familiar with Air India and the local Babbar Khalsa crowd, which Mr. Dosanjh is very much at odds with.

Ripudaman Singh Malik is an admitted supporter and financier of Babbar Khalsa. Malik even supported Parmar's widow.

It amazes me, after BK being put on the official terror list, that Khalsa credit union and schools are allowed to conitnue. Especially the latter recipient funds from the public purse.

Under no circumstances would I believe that the Young campaign would actively associate with such fellows, but claiming to not know? The manner of incompetence displayed is unbelievable. Somebody ought to be fired.

Edited April 23, 2011 by Handsome Rob

[Rick]

I'm guessing you're not a local, it's hard not to be familiar with Air India and the local Babbar Khalsa crowd, which Mr. Dosanjh is very much at odds with.

Ripudaman Singh Malik is an admitted supporter and financier of Babbar Khalsa. Malik even supported Parmar's widow.

It amazes me, after BK being put on the official terror list, that Khalsa credit union and schools are allowed to conitnue. Especially the latter recipient funds from the public purse.

Under no circumstances would I believe that the Young campaign would actively associate with such fellows, but claiming to not know? The manner of incompetence displayed is unbelievable. Somebody ought to be fired.

See Rob, that's what the Harper Conservatives do. They play fast and loose with the rules and when caught plead ignorance while casting blame for their being caught at the media who were simply doing their job.

See: Bruce Carson, Maxime Bernier, Gavan Paranchothy, Rahim Jaffer etc.....

[punked]

Only one option here. VOTE NDP! Liberals and Conservatives accuse each other of terrible things however there is still another option. The NDP all the way.

[cybercoma]

Under no circumstances would I believe that the Young campaign would actively associate with such fellows, but claiming to not know? The manner of incompetence displayed is unbelievable. Somebody ought to be fired.

This seems to be the most reasonable position to the situation. I can't believe how much rhetoric there is on both sides of this issue.

And did betsy really quote and reply to herself up there?

[Scotty]

See Rob, that's what the Harper Conservatives do. They play fast and loose with the rules and when caught plead ignorance while casting blame for their being caught at the media who were simply doing their job.

See: Bruce Carson, Maxime Bernier, Gavan Paranchothy, Rahim Jaffer etc.....

Childish partisan drivel.

She was invited to a meeting at the school. There's no evidence she even saw or talked to this Malik guy.

On the other hand, the leader of the liberal party was interviewed the other week by an admitted terrorist supporter, who actually praised the men who beat up Dosanj years ago! and Ignatieff knew about the man's past ahead of time, and decided that the potential for votes was worth doing the interview anyway.

[Rick]

Childish partisan drivel.

She was invited to a meeting at the school. There's no evidence she even saw or talked to this Malik guy.

Well if there was nothing to hide, then why were the Conservatives so deathly afraid to allow a CBC reporter to ask the question of Harper that they once again resorted to mob tactics...

Conservative partisans deliberately drowned out a journalist’s question to Mr. Harper during a Greater Toronto Area campaign stop Saturday as he was being asked about a Vancouver candidate’s endorsement by a man acquitted in the Air India bombing.

The Tory Leader stood quietly while members of his staff and a crowd of about 500 at a Coptic Christian centre clapped and cheered loudly to prevent a CBC reporter from quizzing him further on his defence of Vancouver South candidate Wai Young.

The Liberals have complained about an early April parents’ meeting at Khalsa School in the Vancouver area, saying Ripudaman Singh Malik was present and urged attendees to vote for Ms. Young and not Grit candidate Ujjal Dosanjh.

Ms. Young has said she didn’t know of Mr. Malik’s background or his relationship with the Khalsa school, which he helped found.

Mr. Harper repeated this defence Saturday but ignored a follow-up question on the matter.

“She attended in good faith. She has been very clear. She and her campaign have no links and do not welcome in any way Mr. Malik into this party,” the Conservative Leader said.

“We’re absolutely clear about that.”

A reporter tried to press Mr. Harper on, this asking whether he “really believed” that Ms. Young would not know Mr. Malik, who’s been in the public spotlight for decades due to scrutiny on him after the 1985 airplane bombing that claimed 329 lives.

But the Conservative Leader refused to answer this follow-up query, waiting as the crowd at the Coptic Christian Centre in Mississauga applauded and cheered him for about 60 seconds.

It’s the first time a Conservative crowd has purposely drowned out a reporter’s question of Mr. Harper during the 41st election campaign.

Encouraging were Tory staffers including Marc-André Plouffe, who before the campaign started was a senior adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Source

[Handsome Rob]

Rick, anybody seen campaigning with somebody like that, in good faith, might as well quit outright. Political suicide in a far bigger way than trying to discuss gay marriage or abortion. There is no way she knowingly did this.

A busy campaign, and somebody at the office seriously F'd up or positively never should have been hired. Neighborhood is getting nasty, punjabi politics really pressing politicians. Ujjal, Kash Heed, Young...

[ufo42]

Story here

This is just one more bit of evidence that Harper is Canada's George W. Bush. His idea of "religious freedom" means just the opposite. His party is intent on giving our tax money to the religions which support him at the polls. This extends to making laws favoring those parties, thereby ignoring the religious freedoms of the rest of us. That any particular religion should receive tax money to support its schools or anything else they are involved in is a violation of one of the most important principles of western democracies... a principle which is increasingly coming under attack around the world. If you want to see an example of what losing the principle of separation of church and state leads to look to Iran, shudder, and vote NDP.

When the western world was ruled by the "Divine Right of Kings" there was no justice for anyone. Everything was decided on the whim of "God's representative on earth". Do we really want to return to the dark ages? A majority conservative government would be a giant step in that direction.

[TimG]

His party is intent on giving our tax money to the religions which support him at the polls.

Which is different from other parties how?

Perhaps the biggest conceit of the left wing is their belief that they are open minded and accepting. The left is full of hate bigotry against Christianity.

[RNG]

His party is intent on giving our tax money to the religions which support him at the polls.

Interesting, but factually incorrect rant. Education is provincial. Harper has nothing to do with the school's funding.

[mikedavid00]

So he's campaigning with that guy, so what? That acquitted man has every right to attend any public functions....to endorse whom he wants!

I know what your saying, but I don't agree. The above attitude is a problem here in my opinion.

I think they should BOTH be kicked out of the country. I think the air india terrorists are walking free after killing hundreds of people and they should all be kicked out of the country.

I do believe our country is a banana republic with kangaroo courts as the air india trial proves. It all became a political issue to protect the terrorists.

If ANY conservatives are caught with terrorists, they should be kicked out of the party immediatly in my opinion. I do not want my party becoming a Liberal or NDP type of party.

[RNG]

I know what your saying, but I don't agree. The above attitude is a problem here in my opinion.

I think they should BOTH be kicked out of the country. I think the air india terrorists are walking free after killing hundreds of people and they should all be kicked out of the country.

I do believe our country is a banana republic with kangaroo courts as the air india trial proves. It all became a political issue to protect the terrorists.

If ANY conservatives are caught with terrorists, they should be kicked out of the party immediatly in my opinion. I do not want my party becoming a Liberal or NDP type of party.

I strongly disagree. Admittedly there have been several cases of the Crown blowing it, and this is a big one. But fix the legal system. We must maintain the rule of law. Thus Betsy is right.

[mikedavid00]

I strongly disagree. Admittedly there have been several cases of the Crown blowing it, and this is a big one. But fix the legal system. We must maintain the rule of law. Thus Betsy is right.

Do you want our Prime Minister walsing around with OJ Simpson?

I can't believe I'd see the day where the old Reform is associating themselves with Tamil Tiger supporters and Sikh terrorists.

It's a political party. Both of the Tamil issue and Sikh Terrorist issue should be dealt with swiftly. Kick them OUT of the party and kick the other guys out of Canada while they are at it. If the Candidates aren't born citizens, then revoke their citizenship and kick the whole lot out of Canada. I have no patience for this out of the CPC.

[capricorn]

Well if there was nothing to hide, then why were the Conservatives so deathly afraid to allow a CBC reporter to ask the question of Harper

CBC's Milewski actually asked 4 questions at one time. Watching the video replay, it's clear Harper answered all of Milewski's questions. Milewski tried to come back with another question but honestly, the guy had been given more than his share of time at the mike. That's when Conservative supporters spontaneously broke into applause and cheering. Harper then proceeded to answer all Milewski's questions in French. Since I doubt you actually saw the exchange, you can see the whole thing here starting at the 6:20 mark of a CTV video.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20110423/ujjal-dosanjh-110423/20110423?s_name=election2011&no_ads=

that they once again resorted to mob tactics...

So now you're calling spontaneous applause and cheering as mob tactics. You really do need to get out more Rick.

[Rick]

CBC's Milewski actually asked 4 questions at one time. Watching the video replay, it's clear Harper answered all of Milewski's questions. Milewski tried to come back with another question but honestly, the guy had been given more than his share of time at the mike. That's when Conservative supporters spontaneously broke into applause and cheering. Harper then proceeded to answer all Milewski's questions in French. Since I doubt you actually saw the exchange, you can see the whole thing here starting at the 6:20 mark of a CTV video.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20110423/ujjal-dosanjh-110423/20110423?s_name=election2011&no_ads=

So now you're calling spontaneous applause and cheering as mob tactics. You really do need to get out more Rick.

So you're saying that multiple media outlets are reporting it wrong then?

LOL, ok then.

Btw, when you have a Con organizer actively encouraging a group of trained seals to drown out an important question being asked about a Conservative candidate’s endorsement by a man directly tied to financing the Air India terrorist attack....

You could easily consider it mob like tactics.

[Tilter]

How interested are you in defending yourself in a Liable suit that could cost you 100,000 bus or so in legal costs, a million in damages payable to the AQUITTED guy.

All this to smear a CPC Candidate who was likely 10 years old when the incident (about which you know next to nothing) happened

[Rick]

How interested are you in defending yourself in a Liable suit that could cost you 100,000 bus or so in legal costs, a million in damages payable to the AQUITTED guy.

All this to smear a CPC Candidate who was likely 10 years old when the incident (about which you know next to nothing) happened

Oh please...

Look it's rather obvious some of you rabid right wingers are desperate to help defend a known terrorist supporter in order to further your cause..

But spare us the bs intimidation threats mmkay?

They don't work.

[Guest peterb]

Email to CTV Newsnet

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but inadvertently, there was something very disturbing, told Canadians on the CTV News Network this morning, that should be of great concern about the neutrality, impartiality and the role of some members of the media in this election campaign.

In reporting about a Harper rally this morning, and the questioning of the Prime Minister, Robert Fife told Jackie Milczarek “We’ll get him”.

This conjures up a picture of some sort of conspiracy by some members of the media, to undermine or carry out some subversive attack in the dying days of Harper’s campaign, to influence the results of this election or worse – certainly not the role of a supposedly impartial media.

I think it behooves Robert Fife and CTV, to make public who all constitites the “we”, because otherwise, this is a suspicion and smear of other members of the media who are innocent , professional and not deserving of this accusation of unprofessional conduct.

Are Canadians , Elections Canada , CRTC and Harper’s protective detail entitled to an explanation of this threat? Has the media watch dog been alerted?

At best Canadians should be warned of the objectivity and neutrality of some members of the media, in their coverage of this election campaign, and that some individual media types are not above distorting and misrepresenting their reports to Canadians.

The report that include that threat of “we’ll get him” aired shortly after 11:00 A.M. CST, and I see any reference to it has been removed since in Fife’s reports – for a cover up, and what I would say are obvious reasons. Does CTV brass think that Robert Fife should remain as a reporter on the campaign trail or are their viewers entitled to a more ethical and reputable coverage? Here is the opportunity for CTV to demonstrate to Canadians who have expressed concerns about biased coverage, that they will not countenance any hint of it, on their network coverage of the election campaign and that their integrity is more important than a reporter’s personal vendetta.

I expect CTV will be issuing an apology to their Canadian viewers.

[capricorn]

So you're saying that multiple media outlets are reporting it wrong then?

I'm saying that the videos that actually record the event say it all. You should try independent thought sometime.

Btw, when you have a Con organizer actively encouraging a group of trained seals to drown out an important question being asked about a Conservative candidate’s endorsement by a man directly tied to financing the Air India terrorist attack....

The questions had already been answered.

You could easily consider it mob like tactics.

With your caliber of cheerleading it's no wonder the Liberal campaign is tanking.

[Scotty]

Well if there was nothing to hide, then why were the Conservatives so deathly afraid to allow a CBC reporter to ask the question of Harper that they once again resorted to mob tactics...

Maybe they figured it was a stupid, unfair, partisan question? Just a guess. Kinda like the cheap ass lying headline you picked for this topic.

I suppose Robert Pikton and Paul Bernardo are going to vote for someone or other. If they announced it would this impute something terrible about whomever they chose to vote for? Would that candidate have to get down on their knees and beg everyones forgiveness?

Edited April 23, 2011 by Scotty

[Scotty]

This is just one more bit of evidence that Harper is Canada's George W. Bush.

Your toaster tell you that?

Edited April 23, 2011 by Scotty